Patrick's Death
by stephwritesstuff
Summary: Take's place in Patrick's funeral, 2 years after the FAYZ Everyone meets up for the funeral idk what I'm doing anymore i cant get over light help


Two years had passed since the FAYZ, two years on the dot. Patrick was always on time, I guess. My dog, my savior during the days of endless battle, passed 3 days ago in my arms. There was nothing I could do to save him. I have never missed my powers more than in those moments when Patrick was looking at me as he bled out in my arms. He ran in front of a car. That dog could survive through starvation and wars, but one stupid UPS truck was his downfall.

I invited everyone left from the FAYZ to come to his funeral. I figured it was a long shot if anyone came, but I thought it would be right.

Sanjit was standing beside me, his hand around my waist. When the first car pulled up next to our house, he gripped me tighter, and I was suddenly reminded of the time at Clifftop Hotel when he hid my cigarettes. The memories hurt, but not nearly as much as they used to.

"Hey! You okay?" Astrid was the first person to burst through the door. She didn't even knock. Apparently Astrid's genius brain didn't work at social functions. She gripped me tight in a one armed hug, the other holding a tray of crackers and cheese. So proper.

Diana and Sam pushed through the double doors next, laughing to themselves. They looked like they were starting to forget, beginning new lives. They were lucky. Nightmares of the gaiaphage gripped my mind day and night. Most of them had begun seeing therapists. I refused now. I had tried doing that in the first few months after the walls went down, but the people I went to didn't seem to understand my pain, no one did, besides Patrick. But now he's gone and I'm stuck with my memories and my sadness.

The group sat down at the long table I set up in the dining room. The house Sanjit got for us was huge, and we were able to find tables in nearly every room to pull together into a sort of meeting room. Sanjit's famous parents also knew to stock the cabinets with booze. At least they were useful for that.

The doorbell rang, and I heard someone yell from outside, their voice muffled by the oak doors. "WE'RE COMING IN." Edilio and Rodger bust through the doors, holding platters of brownies. I could tell that Rodger had made them, they looked perfect, crispy on the top and arranged neatly on a tray. They walked over to the dining room and placed the trays on the table. Rodger gave me a small hug, and Edilio walked over next and grabbed me tightly. There's something about the way Edilio hugs people that makes everything seem alright. "I'm sorry about Patrick. Everyone loved him, Lana." He was looking up at me, his brown eyes wide and sympathetic. I just nodded. It was too painful to try to force out words.

While I was talking to Edilio and Rodger about school and colleges, Sanjit had opened the door for Quinn. I hadn't seen him since the FAYZ, and he looked good. He was buffer than he used to be, and the two years that had passed made him look so much more mature. I remembered when he used to visit me in my room at the Clifftop. I always thought we could be something, but then Sanjit came along and everything changed. I tried to shake off the thoughts as he came over to hug me. "I brought these, I didn't know if I should make food or not do anything so, I don't know. Anyway, I'm sorry about Patrick." Quinn was holding a box of Totino's Pizza Rolls. I thanked him, and then walked them over to the freezer. I put them down and sat down at the kitchen counter. I had to take a breath. Seeing everyone again wasn't painful, but so many memories were flooding in I didn't know what to feel. Happiness? Nostalgia? I had lived with these people through hell and had never felt more a part of a family. Everyone needed me, cared about me. When I got out of the FAYZ, my family was supportive, but they didn't understand. No one did, besides these people. So why was I so uncomfortable?

I walked back into the dining room, and everyone was sitting, staring at their phones. Dekka had arrived when I was gone, and I noted that she brought some cookies. I cleared my throat, and then sat down at the head of the table. Everyone looked up at me.

"So how has everyone been getting along?" Astrid broke the silence thankfully.

"Alright, I guess. My mom's making me look into colleges." Dekka answered first. She looked around at everyone, waiting for a reaction.

Sam looked up at his phone, where he had been texting feverously. "To be honest, I hate the whole college thing. I hate the idea that we should just be able to adjust into society after the FAYZ. Nobody seems to get what went on here. The closest we have to understanding is from people who have read Astrid's book, or watched Albert's documentary."

I looked around. Didn't Albert say he was coming today? There was an empty table, and everyone seemed to catch on that he was missing.

"Just like him to not show up. Bet he was too nervous, or something." Diana shrugged her shoulders. I looked closely at her, and I could see the bags under her eyes, the tiredness that seemed to surround her. Sleepless nights, depression. I knew the signs.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Albert waltzed in, Ray-Bans on, leather jacket draped over his arm. He was holding a half-empty Starbucks cup. "Sorry I'm late guys, Mickey-Ds held me up in a meeting." Albert sat down at the open seat, oblivious to the stares he was receiving. "They want to start up some Mc. Donald's clubs like we had in the FAYZ. Think it might bring in a larger teen crowd, or something."

"That's idiotic." I said.

"I know, I tried to tell them it was kind of harsh, using something like that, but they didn't get it. I don't have much say in the meetings anymore. I think they're going to drop me soon. The FAYZ doesn't get as much attention as it used to."

"Everyone's forgetting about it." Edilio sighed.

Dekka opened the tray of brownies and bit into one. "We're not."

"I don't think we'll ever forget. We've lost so much. We lost our friends, our childhoods..." Quinn said quietly. Dekka excused herself from the table. She still wasn't over Brianna. No one was.

The room was silent for a few minutes. Dekka walked back in, her eyes red and puffy. Astrid rubbed her back as she sat down to her right.

"How about we break out those Totino's pizza rolls?" Sanjit stood up and walked into the kitchen. I stood up too, and everyone followed us into the kitchen.

"The house looks great, Sanjit." Astrid said, looking around. She rubbed her hands on the countertop, as Sanjit placed the pizza rolls onto a tray. I preheated the oven. "Is this real granite?"

He placed the tray in the oven. "Only the best for the adopted son of billionaires." Sanjit smiled. "House tour?"

We walked throughout the house, Sanjit narrating, everyone listening. Occasionally someone would ask a question, and Sanjit would go on a tangent about the curtains, or the 3D TV, or the pool. I mostly stayed quiet. I thought about Patrick, and how he would have been happy to see everyone again. He used to like to jump in the pool on hot days, and he hated the 3D TV. Always barked at it. I think it reminded him of all the weird powers back in the FAYZ.

When we got back to the dining room, Sanjit brought over the pizza rolls, and we all grabbed a plateful.

"I would have killed for one of these, back then." Edilio laughed. Everyone else laughed too, because no one believed Edilio had the ability to murder someone.

"They would have cost a billion Bertos." Albert was smiling, too.

"Caine probably would have taken them all. When we were on the island, there were a few boxes. He was obsessed with them." Diana was looking down at her plate. She had a small smile on her face, like the memory was pleasant, yet painful. I could tell it made her guilty to be here without him, having fun without him. Sam and Astrid looked surprised, like she hadn't spoken of him until now. We were all taken by surprise.

"He did a really good thing, when he wrote that note. He saved us all, really. Caine was a good man." Rodger said.

We continued to make small talk, and then moved into the movie theater downstairs. We tried to pick out a movie, and settled on a cheesy '80s movie. None of us were too fond of actions or Sci-Fi's anymore. It wasn't the same as back in the FAYZ, none of us were the same. I wasn't smoking, Sam wasn't worried, and Quinn didn't really smell like fish. Diana wasn't with Caine, Albert wasn't as immature, and Dekka looked a lot less strong and a lot more sad, but we were together. I felt more comfortable than I had in months, surrounded by the only people who could ever understand the sadness I felt, the grief that tugged at my heart, and the nightmares that haunted every moment of sleep. We might have been different, but we belonged like this. Together.


End file.
